The series transforms city streets to walk ways to promoterecreation and building community spirits

Get your sneakers ready for Saturday! Mayor Mike Purzycki and Cultural Affairs Director Tina Betz today announced a new pilot program entitled Open Streets Wilmington. The first of these events, which encourage citizens to walk, socialize and enjoy the beautiful Brandywine Park, will happen this Saturday morning.

The free and open to the public event will temporarily restrict vehicle access each Saturday morning through the end of November along North Park Drive and South Park Drive between Market Street Bridge and Van Buren Street Bridge. Open Streets Wilmington will, in effect, transform 1.5 miles of streets into an extension of the park.

Betz said the simplicity of the Open Streets Wilmington pilot series is central to the experience – it is not a race, there is no start or finish line, and there is no wrong place to enter. She said people of all ages and abilities are welcome to walk, bike, skate, run, play, or just people-watch in a safe and beautiful setting, free from concern about vehicular traffic.

The Open Streets Wilmington pilot series will take place on Saturday mornings from 7 a.m. to noon beginning this Saturday, October 28 through Saturday, November 25, for a total of five consecutive Saturdays.

"We hope that Open Streets Wilmington will connect multiple neighborhoods and provide a wonderful opportunity for communities to get outside and be active in one of our city's most scenic places as the leaves are producing bright fall colors," said Mayor Purzycki. “This is a way for the public to creatively self-invest in our public places. Open Streets enables citizens to fully appreciate how special and majestic this part of the city is – and with that appreciation comes the hope that people will fall in love with Wilmington all over again.”

Open Streets Wilmington is inspired by the global open streets movement which uses city streets to promote healthy outdoor activity and community engagement. Wilmington now joins more than 100 cities in North America and over 400 cities globally that are staging open streets events.

Brandywine Zoo and other sections of Brandywine Park will remain accessible by car. The parking lot near the Brandywine Zoo and Jasper Crane Rose Garden can be accessed by 18th Street and Van Buren Street (Monkey Hill), and visitors on the south side of the park can access the municipal parking lot at Lovering Avenue and Van Buren Street, underneath the I-95 overpass.